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General Software Discussion / Gutsy reply to Richard Stallman's recent FUD attempt on Android
« on: September 21, 2011, 07:33 AM »Carlo Daffara's well-argued and brave riposte to Richard Stallman's Android FUD attempt.
http://carlodaffara.conecta.it/android-free-non-free-and-generic-fud/
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I hate FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) whether it is spelled from proponents of proprietary software or free software loyalist. I hate it because it uses half-truths, innuendo and emotional traps to prevent readers to form their own opinion using rational means.
Having said that, I have been already skeptical of the previous attempt of the FSF to declare that the GPLv2 is “dangerous” because it has no explicit reinstatement clause, piggybacking on posts by popular Android doomsayers that (wrongly) claimed that Android tablet vendors “lost their rights to the Linux kernel”. Now, RMS clearly aimed with bigger guns at Android, that is clearly irking to his freedom-loving personality and probably seen as a plague barely better than Windows. In doing so, he unfortunately reached the same level of his hated proprietary vendors, using a barrage of arguments that show little attention to the reality.
Given the fact that RMS cares nothing of me (I still remember the disdain when I suggested that “Libre” may have been a better word than “Free”) and I am tired of being hated only by academics, I would like to dissect a few of the points raised by our beloved Richard.